A wooden public footpath sign. The sign shows wear from weather and a green colouring.. A LOCAL authority charged with maintaining the country’s longest public rights of way network has admitted it has to prioritise work after being accused of leaving paths obstructed for decades and “stonewalling” residents’ concerns. North Yorkshire County Council’s countryside access manager Ian Kelly said there was an “acute awareness” about the council’s lack of capacity to deal with the 2,000 reports of issues on footpaths that residents lodged annually across the 6,311 miles of routes it has a statutory duty to keep “in a fit state for public use”.